A very balanced post Dave and one for which I agree with.


As I said earlier in the post, It has to be an new era for LRLFC. If Trevor is embracing diversity in a way of running our club, then I for one feel we have nothing to lose.

Leigh is a booming RL Town with great tradition.

Dummies need to be put into their boxes now and we then move onto a new era.

We have ticked a box, and now it is time to move on WITHOUT going bust. The ties with the local amateur clubs need to be stronger than ever. I Feel TB can do the business.

All well and good , but strong ties and a good working relationship with the local amateurs won't pay the bills , more fans are the only answer

More income is the answer, more fans is a bonus.

Long term people will only pay the normal going rate for a product

NEWSFLASH. People are skint, inflation is on the up. The first thing to suffer in a financial crisis is leisure. Can't help thinking that instead of banging on about delving into pockets the club should be marketting a good experience at an affordable price.

' Delving ' is the only short term answer we have , but you are completely correct , after that we have to provide a good worthwhile reasonably priced product , and then sell that to the people of the town

I would say its a combination of all of these.
There is certainly a PR job to do and hopefully better community relations, sense of ownership leads to more fans and more revenue. They are all related.

As a relative outsider living in Bristol what I notice is that there appears to be long standing and deep rooted grudges and negative perceptions about the club - whether real, self-inflicted or perceived.

The idea that the club will pay for winning team and then hope that will be enough to attract enough fans is not sustainable.
The club has to be 'more' than just a rugby team. We can't have a passive fan base that simply pays for a seat in the stands.

It seems like the club is doing all the right things now---its just unfortunate that short term cash is a bit of a problem.

Unless the RFL and BARLA change their rules then the 'loaning' of players between pro and am clubs can't take place, so the blame for that one is unfair to lay at Leigh Centurions door, I'm sure any pro club would love to take the opportunity to save money by having their squad players (and u 18's) play for local am clubs, even paying them for it.

I'm not sure I agree here.

The reason is that it depends what you think Leigh Centurions is for and what business it is in.

If you think it is in the professional rugby league business - then you are right. 14 quid for a ticket is about what you can charge. And if you can go down the road to watch SL for the same and ametuer clubs for nowt - how do you compete?

But if you think Leigh Centurions is in the "community and civic pride" business then what is the price for that?
Why do people give thier time for nothing for the club? Why do many of us chuck in a few quid to the corporate club and LISA?
Part of it is to pay for a better team, but I reckon a lot of it is because we care and love our communities and the club is a represtation of that.
Many of us see the club in difficulties as a personal reflection of our own lives which is why it generates so many emotions in people.

For many people, Leigh Centurions is about identity, belonging to something greater than ourselves, being NOT Wigan, having a sense of pride in who they are and what they stand for.

Luckily, through Trevor Barton the club finally understands that.

But it still wont pay the bills

Well indeed - cash is king.

But the old way doesnt work - we have to do something new, so what is it?
What does Leigh Centurions have right now that people (fans, sponsors, LISA, CC, new directors) are willing to pay for and will cost the club next to nothing to offer them?

For some people it may merely be about going to watch a sporting event near to where they live and they can now do that whilst watching Swinton. Come on Leigh RL make people want to watch you.

The Rugby we served up last year should have done that Dave but it didn't.

And neither did having Basil , or a shiny new stadium , or Tommy Martyn

So as you say Fred , the old ways dont work , thats if they ever did , the only way to sell something that somebody doesn't need , is to market it

Advertise and sample the product , thats how companies sell things

Heard some businessman speaking on radio yesterday. Now his product wasn't exactly RL but he too was struggling in the leisure industry. His answer was to give his paying customers more for their money. He ran an indoor skiing place and now gives two hours for the price of one. He still has the same running costs but now because people are getting better VFM more are coming through the door. I know that the club has difficulty in forecasting how many people will come the turnstiles but at the end of the day money (of value for it) speaks volumes. How can we offer a reasonably priced season ticket (I presume we would prefer up front money rather than sporadic game by game money which may lessen with team performance) which gives the holder something special. I know that the touch down club has been mooted which gives additional perks but this again is asking for increased amounts rather than just enticing the sale of the ticket. I don't have answers but I really think we need to market the product and I really do think that the answer if value for money.

We debated this on our forum last night. The RL championship is relatively weak and are not in a position to challenge the RFL even if they wanted to.

However, in footy, can you imagine the likes of Leeds, West Ham, et al taking the ring fencing of the EPL lying down?? There's is the 4th most watched league in the world - collectively they operate from a position of stength.
If the EPL decided to go down the licencing route, I cannot see that going unchallenged in law in the same way the Bosman and Kolpak rulings impacted on all sports because individuals challenged the rulings of their sports governing bodies.
If the EPL then lost such a challenge - it affects RL! I honestly hope that scenario is played out!

Sorry I forgot to add "speculate to accumulate".

I don't thionk the player would be impressed at playing 4 halves

One of our ex players said at the gym today he has been promised a cheque this Friday.

Answering the title of the forum...... In a word, yes

Me too Tom.

We will be far better for the experience in a few weeks. Being a Leyther is all about the passion and the ride, if you want it smooth, support someone else - but it won't be a fraction of the fun.

Not saying I want it smooth, loved the relief of Milwards coaching and the ups these past 2 seasons. I'm just not a fan of being lied to. "7-10 days". As a season ticket holder for many years I feel as though I at least deserve to be kept in the know, I want to be kept updated with who's left, who's on the coaching shortlist, whether we're gonna have a playing team, what the structure of the club is going to be. Instead I feel as though I'm being taken for a complete mug who's just "another person". I feel the club/board/whoever aren't doing what they said theyw ould and that's keeping us in the know, instead we're all relying on "rumours", heard from someone. Now I know I've posted rumours recently, so I'm not saying that rumours are bad, but with no words coming from the club then this is what we've been reduced to. IMHO this is a good example of how not to treat your fans, fans for that matter who they're banking on getting another season ticket.

Tom , what's the rush , it's the close season , we don't play till January , plenty time to get things sorted

I know there's no rush, but I'd rather know what's happening frm the clubs mouth Steve instead of debating whether to believe whether Mick has gone, who is acrually in the frame for the job, whether swinton have signed some of our players whether the players have been paid etc. I just think when everyone knows how much of a mess we're in, I just think the club should tell us what the situation is. If the came out and said "basically guys we're f*****" well tbh I'd rather just know what boat we are in instead of the uncertainty.